"Ta-da! The hero Alice has arrived!"
"Oh, you're here, Ali—wait, why are you here too...?"
Z-City, outside Saitama's apartment.
Sliding the door open on a whim, Saitama hadn't expected to see another silhouette standing right beside Alice.
Knowing she was coming over today, he had boiled water for tea well in advance and tidied up his usually cluttered living space, making it look presentable.
Even though Alice usually preferred juice or soda, buying bottled drinks really wasn't cost-effective. After a few purchases, Saitama had simply switched to powdered drink mixes.
After all, his current livelihood was highly unstable. Although he participated in occasional competitions, the prize money only lasted so long, and his past savings were practically gone.
He did receive tokens of gratitude from the people he saved during his hero activities from time to time, but that kind of income wasn't exactly regular.
Besides, this setup worked out perfectly—he could brew tea for himself while mixing a drink for Alice at the same time.
At first, he hadn't really welcomed Alice's visits. He was fairly self-aware; putting everything else aside, he wasn't exactly what you'd call a reliable adult when it came to daily life.
A cramped, poorly maintained room was definitely not the kind of place a young girl should see.
That was why he had to go through the trouble of cleaning up before she arrived.
But ever since the girl had flashed an angelic smile and said something along the lines of, 'I don't want Uncle Saitama to be all lonely by himself,' Saitama hadn't resisted her visits quite as much.
And after a few times, Saitama actually felt a trace of novelty in their shared routine of playing video games and discussing storylines.
Whenever Alice came over, time genuinely seemed to pass much faster than when he was just watching TV alone.
But... what was the deal with this blonde robot...?
"Master Saitama, I apologize for taking so long to pay my respects!" Genos said with a deadly serious expression.
In truth, he had been observing Saitama for a few days now. Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to glean anything useful from Saitama's daily routine, leaving him with no choice but to show up at his doorstep.
"Can you stop calling me Master...? What I said before was just..." a casual remark.
He didn't finish the sentence. The moment the words were about to slip out, Saitama broke into a cold sweat, realizing Alice was still right there.
This is a bit bad... Breaking a promise unilaterally right after making it isn't exactly the kind of scene a kid should witness...
"Anyway... just come inside for now."
He'd just have to find a reason to make things difficult and kick him out.
Left with no choice, a helpless Saitama temporarily allowed Genos inside.
"Go home after you finish drinking this, okay? I have another guest to entertain today." Sitting around a small round table, Saitama slid a disposable paper cup filled with tea toward Genos, while pointing at Alice beside them.
"This is a crucial moment for establishing the bond between master and disciple! Alice can watch and bear witness!" Clutching her dedicated cartoon mug—which Saitama had bought with literal tears in his eyes—the black-haired girl raised her hand to show they shouldn't mind her.
"Thank you very much."
Genos bowed his head toward the girl.
Saitama's eye twitched slightly. "No, no, no... Apprenticing yourself to me? If you think about it, there's absolutely nothing I can teach you, right? Aren't you a robot?"
"No, I am a cyborg. I am different from Alice," Genos stated. "I see. Master Saitama, you do not understand the distinction between us, do you?"
"I don't really want to underst—"
"A cyborg is a lifeform modified from a human base. Of course, I am not implying that Alice is not a lifeform. A long time ago—five years ago, to be exact—when I was first modified into a cyborg, I also questioned my own existence. I wondered whether I could still be called a human or even a living being."
Genos continued.
"No... like I said, I don't really care to understand..."
"It's a character backstory!" Unlike Saitama's completely numb face, Alice was incredibly interested in this.
"Then, I shall continue."
"Don't continue..."
"During that long period of self-doubt, I received guidance from Dr. Kuseno. I shaped my self-awareness through fighting and enforcing justice. In my view, as long as one possesses intellect, they can be called a lifeform. As long as one perceives themselves as human, they can call themselves human."
As Genos spoke, he looked toward Alice. Although his face remained expressionless, one could clearly sense a profound warmth of encouragement and validation in his tone.
"In my eyes, Alice is an exceptionally excellent, adorable, and noble individual. In fact, there are many people with ugly hearts who call themselves human, yet Alice far surpasses them in humanity."
His words actually made Saitama nod in agreement. Even though he didn't care about these philosophical questions and answers, hearing Genos say this to Alice wasn't a bad thing.
At the very least, it was positive reinforcement and good moral education.
"Thank you, Genos."
Alice's smile didn't carry a hint of gloom. "But Alice doesn't worry about those things! Because no matter what, Alice is going to be the hero who protects everyone, even if I'm not human!"
Hearing this, the corners of Genos's flat mouth curved upward by just a few pixels before he turned his gaze back to Saitama.
"The reason I was contemplating these things five years ago is because, five years ago, I was still an ordinary boy."
"Wait... you're still not finished?!"
Experiencing it live, Alice watched their interaction with great relish. But right after witnessing a conversation that mirrored the original story perfectly, Genos suddenly adopted a defensive stance, just like in the original work.
"I detect a life signature approaching at high speed. It is heading in a straight line toward Master's home." This was basically enough to conclude that someone was coming to cause trouble.
Genos wasn't surprised that he was the first to notice, since he was equipped with radar.
And based on their last encounter, Alice clearly didn't have anything like a radar.
Let alone radar, aside from her eyes and the technological halo hovering above her head, no one would look at her and think she was a robot.
However, that kind of design was understandable. The trope of a manga plot where a robot is crafted to look exactly like a deceased son wasn't exactly new.
If some robots were designed purely for combat, Alice's design clearly wasn't. She was made to look closer to human, or rather, better suited for everyday companionship.
It was just a mystery why the creator, after designing such an appearance, hadn't kept Alice by their side.
But that wasn't for Genos to ponder.
Sensing the enemy, he immediately moved to the front door, staying alert in case the intruder tried to break it down.
This was his chance to leave a good impression on his master, and he was absolutely going to seize it.
--+--
T/N: If you want advance chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL